The present invention relates to linear guide devices, and more particularly to a linear guide device comprising a straight guide rail, and a movable body movable as fitted over the guide rail.
In the specification and the appended claims, the terms, "front," "rear," "left" and "right" are used with reference to the direction of movement of the movable body.
The movable body of the linear guide device of the type mentioned comprises a movable block generally inverted U-shaped in cross section and having a pair of legs at its opposite sides, with a looped ball circulation channel formed in each of the legs, and a plurality of balls movable through the channel in circulation and rollable between the movable block and the guide rail. The movable block comprises an end cap at each of its opposite ends and an intermediate member as the remaining portion. The ball circulation channel comprises a groovelike forward passage formed by a retainer in one side of the leg of the block intermediate member and facing the guide rail, a borelike return passage formed in the leg outwardly of the forward passage, and reverse passages each formed by fitting a guide member to each of the block end caps and interconnecting the corresponding ends of the forward and return passages.
The movable block of the linear guide device has a complex construction and therefore can not be formed integrally in its entirety, so that it has been conventional practice to separately prepare the two end caps at the opposite ends, the intermediate member, the retainers at the respective sides and the guide members at the opposite sides and to assemble these components into the block.
Accordingly, the device has the problem of necessitating a large number of parts and many assembling steps. Especially, the assembly process is complex because the guide members to be fitted to the end caps are separate from other portions and because the retainers need to be fixed in place with bolts or screws. This problem becomes more serious in the case where upper and lower two ball circulation channels are formed in the leg at each side of the movable block.